World’s Top 20 Oil Importers
2024, crude oil imports by value. Rank Importer 2024 Import Value 1 China $325.19 bn 2 European Union $283.46 bn…
Major Maritime Chokepoints / Routes Like the Strait of Hormuz, and Controlling Authorities
Route / Chokepoint Geography Primary Control / Operating Authority Strait of Hormuz Between Iran and Oman Littoral-state control: Iran and…
World’s Top 20 Gas Producers
2024 production, billion cubic metres Rank Country 2024 Gas Production 1 United States 1,033 bcm 2 Russia 629.9 bcm 3…
World’s Top 20 Gas Reserves
Rank Country Proven Gas Reserves 1 Russia about 47 tcm 2 Iran about 34 tcm 3 Qatar about 24 tcm…
World’s Top 20 Oil Producers
2024 production, thousand barrels per day Rank Country 2024 Oil Production 1 United States 20,135 kb/d 2 Saudi Arabia 10,856…
World’s Top 20 Oil Reserves
Rank Country Proven Oil Reserves 1 Venezuela about 303 bn barrels 2 Saudi Arabia about 267 bn barrels 3 Iran…
West Asia crisis on day 33: the war is now a regional systems shock, not only a battlefield story
By 1 April 2026, the West Asia crisis had moved well beyond a bilateral exchange of fire and become a…
Operation Epic Fury explained: the campaign, the damage, and the politics that kept changing
Operation Epic Fury began on 28 February 2026 as a U.S. military campaign against Iran. Official American descriptions present it…
West Asia crisis timeline: the key dates from 28 February to 31 March 2026
The current war formally began on 28 February. CENTCOM says that was the date it commenced Operation Epic Fury at…
Diplomacy, law and the UN: can the crisis still be contained?
The diplomatic argument is now brutally simple: either the war is slowed by politics, or politics will be overwhelmed by…
Gulf states in the line of fire: ports, power, water and migrant workers
One of the most important shifts in the war is that it has become unmistakably regional. On 25 March, Volker…
Strait of Hormuz shock: why this war became a global energy emergency
If one wants to understand why a regional war now feels global, the answer sits in the Strait of Hormuz.…